For the second time since last week, a House committee rejected a Senate bill with comprehensive reforms.

A Senate committee responded by snuffing out two House bills “ the general civil justice reform bill and another that caps punitive damage awards for businesses.

Mississippi Economic Council President Blake Wilson said he is still hopeful meaningful legislation will come out of the special session on business liability issues.

"This is just the process. You've got to let the process work," Wilson said. "I think the positive thing is both houses have had a very serious and substantive discussion on the issue. "

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Bennie Turner said he did not like feeling forced into considering legislation.

"I will not be dictated to and told that in order to pass legislation, it must be by means of the House bill," said Turner, D-West Point, who heads the Senate select committee.

Sen. Terry Burton, D-Newton, said the main House bill does nothing to address major business liability issues.

"We sent them a bowl of soup and they sent us dishwater," he said of House members. "I'm not here to vote on dishwater when we have some people out there who are needing some relief. "

But Rep. George Flaggs, D-Vicksburg, pointed out the House sent the Senate bills on punitive damage award caps and general business liability issues, and now the banking bill.

"In all due respect to the Senate, I think every issue that was a crisis out there has been ad-dressed," he said.

Lawmakers have been in special session since Sept. 5. They have been considering general civil liability legislation after passing medical malpractice reforms Oct. 7. As of Thursday, the cost of the session added up to $649,149, after lawmakers forfeited their monthly out-of-session allowance in September that totaled $324,791.

Wilson said Mississippi's competition for jobs doesn't end at the state line, and civil justice reforms are needed to compete with neighboring states. He said the banking legislation is a positive aspect of the session.

After more than an hour of debate about protecting consumer rights versus protecting Mississippi's lenders, the House voted 76-36 Thursday for a bill that would limit the amount of money borrowers could recover if they were defrauded by a bank or small loan company.

Banking officials have said the state's lending institutions are at financial risk from thousands of lawsuits over alleged fraudulent charges for credit life, disability and property insurance on small consumer loans.

The Mississippi Bankers Association executive committee threw its support behind the House bill after it held a meeting Thursday.

"I cannot speak for the individual members, but the committee backs this bill," Mississippi Bankers President Griffin Norquist said.

The House banking bill would apply only to consumer loans of $20,000 or less. If any unlawful charges are added to the loans, then all finance charges and all principal will be forfeited and may be recovered by the consumer, based on the legislation.

If the charges on the loans resulted from fraud, any charges recovered would double. The bill also includes a tiered approach to how much a consumer can receive in damages if the consumer was defrauded.

For example, if the amount of the unlawful charge is $100 or less, the maximum amount of damages that could be recovered for each loan would be $3,000. If the amount of the unlawful charge ranged from $100 to $1,000, the maximum damages would be $15,000. The defendant also would be required to pay attorneys' fees.

The bill would take effect upon passage. If the bill becomes law, the protection for the banks would expire July 1, 2004.

Several House members spoke against the bill, saying it doesn't help poor Mississippians who usually apply for small loans. Rep. David Gibbs, D-West Point, said the legislation unfairly gives lenders relief.

"They know they have done wrong, and they expect us to condone what they've done wrong and get a way out," Gibbs said.

In defending the bill, its author, Rep. Ed Blackmon, D-Canton, said his goal was helping lenders while making sure that consumers are compensated for buying insurance that they might not have needed.

"Now granted they shot their own selves in the foot on this," Blackmon said, referring to lenders, "but we're trying to strike a balance. "

The House committee studying changes to the civil justice system heard from lawyers who oppose the legislation.

Robert Williamson, a Jackson lawyer who practices commercial and business litigation, told the committee that to address what the consumers can recover without addressing what the lenders are doing as far as unlawful charges would not be responsible legislation.

"This is a very, very complex issue that should not be addressed without a good bit more study," he said.